well, good morning. welcome to "mornings on 2." i'm dave clark. >> good morning. i'm tori campbell. it's tuesday, december 28th. in the news, oakland police are investigating a bold r obbery. this happened at a very busy walgreens store. kraig debro is live at the scene with all of the details.

>> reporter: i just spoke to the manager of the walgreens, not too far from lake merritt. he wouldn't comment on what happened last night. he said i had to go to oakland police. i did go down here and there is a lucky and they said they were were robbed by a guy that o rdered $00 money order. there sa a -- $00 money order. there is a satellite down there. witness and surveillance c ameras, that's what police and walgreens hopes will help them with the investigation. police say a masked men entered the walgreens on east 18th street around 8:00 last night the store is located a few feet from lake merritt. the man accosted the cashier and demanded money. a man walked in and saw what was going on and he left i mmediately. now, the gunman left the store.

it's not known if he left with any money. police are looking at the surveillance tape. it's not clear if they are able to i.d. the suspect since that person wore a mask. there are plenty of signs out there that say "recording in progress," well those signs as well as being a warning might have tipped off the person r obbing the place. maybe that's why he wore a mask before he came in here. i will contact the police again to see if i can get some more details. kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 n ews. >> thank you, kraig. 7:02. well, all of the east coast major airports are up and r unning again this morning. some had to be shut down because of this week's huge snowstorm back there. it will probably take days, three, four days for all of the strand the passengers to get aboard a -- stranded passengers to get aboard a flight. we're hearing flights are booked solid and most flights

are o verbooked with standby lifts with as many as 50 people on them. the airlines are trying to accommodate pretty frustrated passengers. >> i'm trying to get home. i was here for christmas vacation. i was supposed to fly out yesterday. it got reboughted -- i root r erouted. i have to fly to d.c. on a little plane and then to white plains and then take the train home. >> now, from the carolinas all the way up to maine, i don't know how many people are digging out after the big holiday blizzard. in all, the storm forced the cancellation of 7,000 flights, costing the airlines an estimated $100 million. the storm has moved on. but it dumped as much as 29 inches of snow. we're gonna brick you the -- bring you the more on this

coming up. arson investigators are looking into an early-morning fire on potrero hill. just hours ago, a christmas tree was set on fire outside the door of one of the apartments on wisconsin and connecticut streets. several residents were trapped inside but neighbors say they helped each other get out. >> it was flamed out, coming out of the door and they had to -- some guy had to drop babies out of window -- window. the fire department broke the gate off the door. >> everyone was able to make it out of the apartment safely. so far no arrests have been m ade. the fleet of military ships beneath the benicia bridge is about to shrink again. it will be moved to b.a.e. systems in san francisco. it will go into dry dock and be cleaned before it's sent to virginia where it will be

dismantled. time now, 7:04. well, today at&t will announce the opening of what it calls a wi-fi hot zone along san francisco's embarcadero. at&t has operated a network of hot spots in hotels, airports and other indoor locations for years. but this will be the first public outdoor space where wi- fi is available to subscribers. at&t is expanding the hot -- expanding the hot zone to time's square. both san francisco and new york customers are pretty heavy use yers of that data -- users of that data. it's 7:05. we want to check in with sal castanedo. he's taking a look at commute, which is pretty quiet, right, sal? >> it is quiet unless you are in the east -- on the east coast. if you are driving in, let's s ay, berkeley any time soon, it

should be a nice drive for you heading out to the mack care ther -- macarthur maze. in the south bay, it also has been light. a couple of times, there have been some slowdowns here and there. but for the most part, it's much lighter than you are used to. 7:05. let's go to steve. we have cloudy skies. mostly cloudy. pretty picture, we do get a break in the morning. there's been some light rain in the morning. but we're waiting for the system to come in tonight. it's gonna have a good punch. one to three inches of rain l ooks likely. so monterey has issued a flash flood watch in the north bay. cloudy today and then light rain comes in later on, a flash flood watch comes later on. tonight, heavy rain and also windy and then turning colder overnight into tomorrow. we'll have to deal with showers. cloudy skies, there's been light rain. 40s to right at 50, oakland san francisco, low 50s. concord, livermore, san jose, all 48. the rain comes in tonight.

by 6:00 to 10:00 there will be a lot of wind an rain could produce some totals upwards of about 3 inches especially t owards the santa cruz m ountains. this is a forecast model projection on rain total. now there's not really much here in the morning. there will be light rain in the north bay but watch out at about 4:00, 5:00. you start to see the rain totals pick up and easy over 2 inches of rain, 2 to 3, nearly 2 for napa and over for ben lomond. san sanfrancisco/oakland and over an inch for livermore, you know this system has a lot of energy. that will be with us tonight and tomorrow. there is also a wind advisory. southerly wind will pick up 30 to 50 miles an hour. the rain right now, we're just in between, this is the warm overreturnings we like to call in advance of the system we have a while before this thing moves in. the rainfall will start to move in in the north bay. watch how this slides south,

6:00, heavy rain from about san francisco golden gate north with snow developing in the mountains. and then by tonight -- that's very rain over us. we have a storm warning out for the mountains and then the cold air comes in and that could give us a round of showers tomorrow but it will be mainly tonight into early tomorrow morning. another system looks like iten whats to move in on thursday. that's very cold air in mendocino county and lake c ounty. we're in for a couple of days here. that's one forecast model. it may be less, a little more. but it's very bullish. sierra nevada, tahoe will focus ton light snow today, heavy snow and wind tonight and turning colder so winter storm warn something out for him. cloudy, windy, heavy rain, by tonight, only starting off 40s and 50s. we'll go cloudy until about n oon. and then we start to pick up up the wind. rain heavy at times. get where you need to go because it could get really

dicey around here. 50s on the temperatures. most of that will be later on this afternoon into tonight t urning much colder with an o ff- and-on showery pattern. it looks like we'll get a break on friday. with that storm moving in later today, crews in mill valley and other prone - -- flood-prone officers. they took advantage of y esterday's dry weather to survey yesterday's work. they did what they could to diminish the risk of slides. >> we actually do tree hazards and take down trees and trains stay in front it. but in storm situations you try to keep up with it. crews in mill valley, say they have bulldozers in case h illsides have way. in case steve mentions there is a flood watch for rain totals with about 2 to 3 inches. emergency pothole repairs continue in sonoma county. the work started early

yesterday morning in the high of -- after calls started coming in about a giant crater damaging cars. but as soon as that one was f ixed, other potholes popped up and they needed attention. what was supposed to take a couple of hours turned into a marathon paving session. caltrans says potholes start out with little cracks and they fill up with crane and -- rain and they expand and blow up as car and trucks drive over them. 7:10. find out why a michigan fan m ace -- man faces up to five years in prison for reading his wife's e-mail. a legal decision has been made, it's the potential sale for state windings -- state buildings.

cloudy skies. we did have a little bit of light rain in the north bay. the breeze will start to pick up later on. highs will be in the 50s. by this evening, moderate to very heavy rain. the flash flood watch out for the north bay starts at 6:00. here's dave. 7:12. and new this morning, iraq's prime minister making his most definitive statement yet about the future of american troops in his country. alison burns is live in our washington, d.c. newsroom. you have details on when the prime minister says american troops need to go. good morning, allison. >> reporter: good morning to y ou, dave. prime minister al-maliki did a two-hour interview with" the wall street journal "and says the united states must stick to

its plan to pull the troops out of iraq by the end of next year. he said the last -- this is the last -- he says his country and security forces are capable of confronting any remaining t hreats to iraq's security and the insistence that iraq would not be pulled into alignment with iran. a majority of iraqis have a ssumed that u.s. presence would last beyond next year. the obama administration says the u.s. is on track to meet that goal of withdrawing troops but a robust security operation will remain at the u.s. embassy in baghdad. reporting live from washington, d.c., alison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. thank you. alison. 7:14. india is under a nationwide terror alert this morning because of threats of a major attack over the new year's eve weekend. police have been going from

door to door searching for four men in from a pakistan-based militant group believed to be linked to the plot. they also tighten security on city streets, beach resorts and transportation hubs. indian officials say they've taken every threat seriously since the 2008 mumbai attacks which left 166 people dead. we're now learning that the u.s. embassy in london was one of the targets of a group of men a rrested last week in britain. british police arrested 12 men on december 20th and what british authorities say were counterterrorism raids to protect the public from the threat of attack. the u.s. state department confirms that the american embassy was on the list of targets along with the london stock exchange. heartbreaking story, firefighters in new orleans plan to use cadaver dogs trying to find more possible victims in a tragic warehouse fire. eight homeless people were kimed in this fire overnight hours -- were killed in this

fire overnight hours ago. officials say the home also were burning wood trying to -- h omeless were burning wood to try to stay warm. they were young people in their teens and 20s from out of t own. in florida, five teenagers died inside after hotel room from carbon monoxide poise -- carbon monoxide poisoning. the car they drove to the hotel was giving them mechanical problems so they jump-started the car and -- >> they left the engine running, the garage door closed, the room probably got filled with carbon monoxide poisoning. >> now the hotel maid found the men dead in their hotel room. it is 7:16.

a santa clara police officer is facing new charges for allegedly providing confidential information to a member of the hells angels. charges have been filed against clay rojas. he's already facing state c harges for giving dmv records to hells angel betancourt. rojas is a five-member police department -- five-year member of the police d. the-- the police department. a michigan man faces up to five years in prison for b reaking into his wife's e-mail account only to find out she was having an affair. he's been charged with a felony. walker maintains his innocence, saying he shared the computer with his wife. his wife, though, says the computer was hers alone and that she kept the password a

secret. well, it appears governor schwarzenegger will not get to see the sale the office buildings before he leaves office. the state has put a hold on this plan to sell these buildings. the court will not take up the issue again next month after the new governor, governor- elect jerry brown, is sworn in. now, under the proposal the state would sell 24 government buildings for more than $ 1 billion to try to help close the state's budget gap. president obama's expected to announce his close for his top economic adviser when he comes back for his vacation in hawaii next week. the replacement for lawrence summers will have a guiding hand in almost every economic decision the max will make. but for now, the president is -- the obama administration will make. but for now, the president is taking it cool in hawaii with his vacation. you can see the president here

having some shaved ice. i can taste it right now. we also know he's been playing a lot of golf. he's been working out with the first lady and playing some basketball, even bowling with his daughters. shaved ice is quite a del kasi in hawaii -- delicacy in hawaii. a deadly fire claims the life of a bay area man who we've learned is a world war ii veteran. plus the criminal act in the east bay a has a -- that has a little league team frustrated on the field. if you are driving on the east shore freeway, certainly there are people out there but it is lighter than it normally is. we'll run down the normally commute and have a look at t he -- have a look at the forecast straight ahead.

it is 7:216789 it's believed a space heater -- 7:21. it's believed a space heater is the blame for killing a man who was a world war ii veteran.

firefighters say there was so much smoke in his roof when they arrived. they cut a hole in the roof to get it out. it's believed keith brooks may have died from smoke inhalation. his wife died six years ago. he leaves behind two grown sons. the san jose mer rue -- mercury news said they police think they may know who the pit bulls are that attacked the woman who has muscle and nerve damage to her arms. a san lorenzo little league baseball team wants help in cha catching the vandals who keep trashing trashing their ball field. the field behind edenfield middle school is covered with garbage, graffiti, condoms and needles. they spent most of their

saturdays repainting and c leaning up. but days later, the field is usually trashed all over again. the league is asking residents in the community call the police if they see anything suspicious. drivers in from montwon't be able to use part of one road today. stevenson boulevard will be closed between civic center drive. the closure begins at 9:00. the work is expected to be finished by::00 this afternoon -- 3:00 this afternoon. while the road is in place, place. it's been pretty quiet but sal tells us there is a problem in hayward. sal? >> that's right. southbound 880 on "a" street there is an armed car that g ot -- armored car that got in an accident. the armored car has leaked

about 10 gallons of diesel on the side of the road there and now they have to get out there with the fire crews to put some absorbent on the roadway. fortunately traffic is lighter than it normally is so it's not a huge deal but there will be some slowing. >> let's take a look at the bay bridge westbound, very light coming into san francisco. this morning in marin county, southbound 101 also looks good from novato to san rafael. i also got a tweet about why can't it be this light all the time? well, i guess it could but i wouldn't have a job, right? >> you would have a job sal. i would hire you. >> yes. thank you. i do notice it's lighter on the roads now. everything is okay now. but by this evening, it will be a mess. we do start out with cloudy skies. temperatures upper 40s, low firsts. cloudy right now, rain develops and then windy at times. heavy rain comes in tonight.

1 to 3 inches of rain looks likely as this system comes in and the cold air arrives tomorrow. by about 6:00 to 10:00 we could be looking at bursts of very heavy rain and snow up in the mountains as this system packs a good punch. southerly wind picks up. the wind advisory -- it will be very gusty, especially along the coast in some of the higher elevations. we could easily have gusts over 50 miles an hour later on. so the system is -- we had a little band go through this morning. santarosa, lake county, mendocino county. but the bulk is still developing off the north coast. lake tahoe forecasts, light s now. winter storm warning starts up there at 4:00. it will go into wednesday when the colder air goes in. for us, cloudy, breezy and by tonight, heavy rain. so a wind advisory as you saw. but a lot of low 50s for o therrers -- for others. 1 to 3 inches of rain as it

comes in. showers, tolder on wednesday -- colder on wednesday. another system clips us. we get a break on friday. i will tackle the weekend as we get closer to it. dave and tori? >> sounds like a lot. >> well, an emergency fix in marin county may not be enough after a lot of raw sewage s pilled last week. what officials did that's being criticized by some of their own. and find out what will happen now to a rescued sea lion found injured on a sausalito beach.

newschopper2, showing a fuel spill. the armored car with the f lashing lights. southbound 880. spilled fuel. they actually had to respond another armored car. there are a lot of police officers there for obviously reasons. going to have to make sure the load is secure. southbound 808 traffic may be a little bit slow heading down to highway 92 when you normally thought it was gonna be light this week. this is a fuel spill. here comes the armored truck. that truck is obviously d isabled. so we'll keep on top of that for you. let's go back to the desk.

as steve's been telling you, we're on storm watch. you better gragg an umbrella. rain is coming back to the bay area. jade hernandez is live in crockette where there is a problem right now. what's going on, jade? >> reporter: well, i can tell you crews are working to fix this problem, and dave, what it is this offramp right here in crockette has been closed for 12 hours. this pothole is causing issues and it is located around eastbound i-80 on the comings sky offramp. the contract in charge of that area and project is adding an additional lane to 80 and they had to be contacted because the hole is so large. the closure will remain in place until the hole can be repaired. we contacted the department works department. the department's main office and dispatch won't be in for a couple more hours. we will keep you posted on when drivers can expect to see this

gone. ktvu also followed mill valley's fire captain as he identified splits in the ground that could become mudslides because the preparation for the storms means preparing for more than just rain. the works department is trying to identify problems. the issues with sizes, they are unpredictable. they start slow and they grow. stopping one area sliding is one thing, stopping another -- >> you have the open soil, it's disturbed. you get additional water going through there, it tends to make it -- you know, it starts to slide and move. >> reporter: rangers told r angers to use a bulldozer to r emove debris from the mudslide. slides and downed trees kept crews very busy. crews we're told will be on standby until the rains are expected to end later this

week. this onramp is closed and has been closed since last night around 7:00. we'll keep you posted on when crews will get out here and start working again. reporting live, jade hernandez, channel 2 news. >> thank you, jade. it's 7:31. one of the pipes that spilled raw sewage in marin county last week has been replaced. some critics wonder how long this will last. the ross valley sanitary district replaced the faulty pipe with a smaller one. a man who we signed from the district board earlier this y ear, told the marin independent journal some employees told him they believe it's a mistake for the district to install a pipe more narrow than the one it is replace. the district says it's just a tell pope rayry fix. oakland police have a w arning for craigslist users. police say there are amazing deals on cars. the robbers set up a meeting

place where the victims are r obbed. those victims have been from all over the northern california. the latest incident happened sunday night when a man from lodi responded to a posting. police say he was robbed of thousands of dollars and s everely n francisco police want your help to thenning. they are trying to find -- this morning. they are trying to find a h it- and-run driver who left a bicyclist in critical condition. it happened early christmas morning. the driver turned off 25th on to bartlett. after the collision, police say the driver fled the scene. the car's description is very vague, only described as a gray, gold or tan sedan. well, bay area a ssemblywoman's bill to ban a bill is on hold. fiona moss is says she's pulling the bill until she can talk with police, political

leaders and those in the entertainment industry. last week fans organized -- announced they were organizing a protest. to this. two raidgoers died earlier this year at the cow palace. we now know the name of the woman found dead in the oakland hills. her nude body was discovered near a bike trail on skyline boulevard. there's still no word on a cause of death but the case is being treated as a homicide. police say at this point, there's no link between abbotts death and the death of a 21- year-old womans who body was found at martin luther king regional shoreline park last week. santa clara county's veteran fire chief is retiring at the end of the month but he won't be leaving right away. he will be back on the job in january earning $236,000 as a consultant. that's on top of his $200,,000

yearly state pension. county officials say the move gives them time to find a new chief. but critics are calling the deal a classic case of double dipping at a time when local governments are facing a fiscal cry size -- crisis. police in richmond tell the account contra costa times "several programs are helping out. this year, the police department is at full staffing. detectives in richmond are w orking to closely track p arolees and gang and narcotics inintelligence teams have been restored from earlier budget c uts. police say they are also e nforcing a day-time curfew for minors and the d.a.'s office has a prosecutor that specifically identifies potential shooters before they act. officers out on the -- out on the beat are crediting the patrol-based program that s tarted in 2006.

well, at&t is expanding its free wireless internet service to more public areas and one of those locations is right here in the bay area. ktvu's tara moriarty live in san francisco. she's gonna tell us where the new wi-fi hot zones are. good morning, tara. >> reporter: well, good morning. if you have an iphone and live or work in san francisco you know it can take quite some time to download video or other information off the internet but that may soon change right here along the embarcadero. that's because at&t is expanding its wi-fi hot zone adding a new coverage area here in san francisco all along the embarcadero. we don't know when the change will take effect. but we asked some people headed to work this morning about the new zone and they were eager to check it out. >> so is it kind of a pain to use down here? >> it is. there is a whole dead zone right around the building that i work in that's right behind you. >> reporter: so this may make things easier for?

>> yes. it definitely would improve things. >> reporter: at&t is the exclusive carrier for the iphone. the company says that it will also broaden and add more hot zones. the program is to supplement more broadband usage in urban areas. the company has met criticisms for the quality of the systems from here and new york. so a lot of the customers are anxious for this to start. live in san francisco, i'm tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. 7:37. we want to check back in with sal castanedo getting aian -- get an update on the roads, including the situation in hayward. well, tori and dave i want you to watch newschopper2, we are looking at them transferring money from one armored car to the other. southbound 880. one of the trucks is disabled. they are transferring bags of

money into the other under heavy guard. yes, most of us have fantasies about this. that could be my armored car. they are taking care of it. there was a fuel spill there and the truck is disabled. the fire department had to come down and spread absorbent on the road. the southbound 880, just past "street on the right shoulder, a billion -- shoulder, a slowdown. westbound bay bridge coming up to the toll plaza, it's looking good coming into san francisco. eastbound interstate 80 on the comings skyway there is a sinkhole that's opened up so watch for that it you -- if you are taking that ramp. here's steve. for those of you listening but you are not watching. there you go, you get a little break in the morning. cloudy to mostly cloudy. we are expecting a big change

tonight when rain and wind move in. so, again, if you have to -- if you want to workout or you want to go shopping or what have you, do it in the morning, by tonight it's going to be a mess. if you have to go in to work, you might want to leave early because getting home could be getting tough. cloudy today, rain comes in. flash flood watch starts in the north bay. tonight, heavy rain, we also have a wind advisory, then t urning colder tonight into tomorrow. we'll have off and on showers. 40s to 50. 47 santa rosa/napa. 46 palo alto/redwood city. rain develops along with wind with this system. it begins to slice in here this morning. it will take us overnight. should blast through by 10:00 or midnight then we'll get the colder air to come in. this is a -- this is a forecast model, projecting rain total. so remember, this is just its projection, but the trend is watch after about 4:00 here in

the north bay. there's santa rosa, or san rafael, napa and look at ben lomond here as we go in to tonight. three inches. ben lomond, three inches san rafael. santarosa 1 but you know out in the russian river they will have more than that. even redwood city and livermore an inch of rain. this had has a lot of potential here to give us decent rain. there will undoubtedly be urban and flood stream advisories. the flash flood watch is in effect. we we have a wind advisory out. strongest gusts will be along the coast. we had a little band go through this morning in the north bay. that's since moved out but there is the bulling of the system moving into the north coast. it's on its way. this is the timing on its rain. when you see the yellow/red,

the heavy amounts. there could be some light stuff. as we get towards 4:00, here it comes. north bay, san rafael, napa, santa rosa north, watch what happens by 6:00. that's some leaf rain starting to move in. especially when you see the yellow and red and then by 9:00, 10:00 tonight, the front is moving through. bide midnight it should be gone. it should be -- by midnight, it should be gone. and then tomorrow the cold air goes in. the main focus is tonight into early wednesday morning. for the sierra, if you must travel, get going. tuesday light snow, tonight heavy snow and wind and tomorrow much colder with temperatures plunging as that cold air p lunges in. cloudy skies. i mentioned some light rain. cloudy, breezy by noon and then by tonight we'll have temperatures in the 50s but rain and it will be very heavy at times as we go into tonight into tomorrow. so the five-day rain and wind. but more cloudy until everything else in until about

2:00 or 3:0 0. we will get a break friday and it looks like more rain returns on the weekend. tori? >> okay. thank you, steve. the sea lion known as silent night will not be released into the wild. an examination has found the animal is blind in both eyes as the result of a shot gun wound. we first reported on silent night eay this month. he was found on the beach. the next step is to try to find a home for silent night in the soo or -- zoo or aquarium. got a harty welcome back in the east bay -- hearty welcome back in the east day. last night in dublin a ceremony was held to honor troops. the event was started five years ago but a man who whose son was injured during the iraq war. >> it's nice to get honored. >> organizers say more than 100

local troops have been honored since the event began. bouncing back find out what the company that received the biggest bailout from the u.s. government is doing to start paying it back. and amazon.com is to set up a new system that will let you find an alternative to those u nwanted gifts.

stocks are kind of heading sideways. the futures were up higher because we were expecting good news about consumer confidence.

right now, the dow is basically flat, 11,554. nasdaq down 4. s&p also flat. it's 7:45. well, the new numbers just released in the past hour so a n -- show an unexpected dip in consumer confidence this month, due to concerns about jobs. the index is at 52.5 right now down about 2 points from november generally readings of 90 points or above indicate a growing economy. there's more bad news from the housing industry this morning. home prices in the 20 biggest u.s. cities fell 1.3% in o ctober. analysts had expected a very slight decrease, but some predicting a small increase in prices overall. the average price fell in every market and it's predicted they will continue to fall flew next year. the drop in prices is a setback for homeowners after values had started to recover earlier this year. index now stands 30% below it's

all-time peak in july 2006. the financial company that received the biggest government bailout is taking a big step on its road to recovery. insurance giant a.a.i.g. lass lined up $3 billion in credit from 36 separate lenders. you can't use any of the money until it's paid back the $ 182 billion in federal bailout money. but it needed to prove it could raise money on its own before the government could let it start making payments. people who have h & r block prepare their taxes and ask for a rapid refund, may be out of luck. the federal government hold h sbc, the bank that partners with h & r block, they can't do it this year, those loans. 7:47. well, investors in tesla, the bay area's electric carmaker, hope to get back some of

yesterday's losses. tesla's stock fell 15%. insiders around early investors had their first chance to sell stocks since tesla went public back in june. that happened at the same time several analysts said hybrids will be more popular than all electric cars for the near future. tesla's stock for -- sold for $ 17 a share. well, retailers say this was a very good christmas for them. maybe the best ever. so far, more people are still buying merchaise than r eturning gifts. that could push holiday revenue to an all-time high even though most shoppers say they are still being pretty careful with how they spend their money. the biggest sellers, clothing with jeans and pack rescuedcies are the most popular items. clothing items are up 11% from last year. amazon.com is pattened a way to exchange unwanted gifts before they get to your house. the system is not working in time for this holiday but they say if it does get launched you

can clip a box on your shopping profile that leds you con -- that lets you convert all gifts from certain people into gift certificates. you will be notified of the original gifts so you can say thank you to the gifter for their present. while at the same time, enjoying something that you picked out for yourself. 7:48. the president of the 49ers says he decided to fire head coach mike singletary with one game left in the season so the team can focus on next year. jed york is also focusing on next year saying he started the process of hiring a general manager. he won't say who he has talked with. he says the general manager will hire the team's next head coach. but there's no timetable for the decision. jed york's uncle will serve as the interim general manager. the white house says michael vick came up when the

president calmed the eagles' owner to talk about a green stadium project. the team pick the up vick after he was reinstated following an 18-month stint in federal prison following a dog fighting conviction. 7:49. well, elton john can now be c alled daddy. the 6-year-old rock star adopted a baby boy born on christmas day to a surrogate mother. the baby's name zachary jackson lavon furnish john. elton john and his partner have been together for 17 years. they tried to adopt a ukrainian baby last year but they were prevented by government regulations there. they issued a statement saying they are "overwhelmed with happiness at this very special moment." it is 7:50. this morning, the library of congress announced the 25 films

deemed worthy of preservings this year. we'll tell you which films made the cut. also ahead, what the department of water see -- also what the expect -- also the department of water resources will do this winter.

early this morning, a small earthquake rattledled civil's ventura county. now, it hit just after 12:30 this morning. it was centered about four miles west of the castaic lake dam. that's about 45 miles northwest of downtown los angeles. they felt it mostly in simi valley and in moorpark and newbury park. so far, there's no word of any injuries or damage. an autopsy is scheduled later today on the body of s inger teena ma rye who died over the weekend at the age of 54. while no cost of -- cause of death has been announced yet,

per luckily sift said she suffered a grand mall seizure. that's the type of see sewer caused by epilepsy. she was found dead in her home by her daughter on sunday. don't be sump priced if i see a lot of people out looking for birds. this is the golden gate audubon society's bird count for the northern part of the peninsula. the group started at 6:30 this morning. they are out looking for all kinds of birds. last year, they counted and recorded 159 different species, with a total topping 49,000 individual birds. the golden gate audubon society is one of 2100 -- 2 s 150 groups taking a bird census today. an area near lake tahoe will be the site of the winter's first snow survey today. the measurement is the first of a series that will calculate how much snowmelt will run off into california's reservoirs.

the department estimates it will be able to deliver at least half of requested watter in 2011. this morning, the library of congress announced the 25 films selected for the national film registry this year. they include the empire strikes back. "saturday night fever" the exorcist "and" all the p resident's men." a couple of other films "airplane" with leslie nielsen and "pink panther." my favorites. well, sal is my favorite because he knows all about the commute. right now we're looking at interstate 80 you can see traffic here is moving along relatively well, now nearby on the comings skyway on the onramp to east 80, newschopper2 will be looking for a sinkhole that's opened up in the area. it might be causing delays on

the comings sky way. but right now no delays on the carquinez bridge both on eastbound and off westbound. you can see traffic is moving well. cloudy skies right now. we see cloudy skies in the morning and then rain tonight but the forecast, we're splitting it in half know. it will be cloudy in the morning and then we'll see the rain pick up in a little bit. we're in between waiting for the front to arrive. the forecast has a wind advisory as a flash flood watch this evening. today, though, cloudy, temperatures in the 50s with the breeze starting to pick up later on. rain heavy this evening tonight and then turning much colder by tomorrow with offand -- o ff- and-on showers. today, cloudy, rain develops

along with the wind and some of that rain again by this evening. 6:00 to 10:00, we could see 1 to 3 inches of rain out of this. hopefully the good news is, it will blast through fast. a lot of snow up in the ier raw as well. wind advisory for a . the strongest gusts will be in the higher elevations and along the coast. you can see the little band that went through earlier. mendocino county and lake c ounty. the main front is now moving o nshore in the north along the north coast. winter storm warning, starts at 4:00. light snow today. heavy snow and wind tonight then turning colder with off and on snow tomorrow. tonight, tomorrow morning could be very tough getting into the mountains. 40ss and -- 40s and 50s. i mentioned light rain. it's mainly cloudy and breezy through noon and then tonight at 4:00, everything starts to fall apart. the rain starts to move in. it will be quite heavy here

into early wednesday. showers and colder air arriving on thursday. it looks like one more system clips us on friday. dave and tori? >> thank you, steve. 7:57. coming up -- the announcement from at&t that will benefit some people in san francisco. it's gone from madness to mayhem at airports all over the country. airlines trying to reroute thousands of frustrated passengers stranded by that snowstorm.

welcome back to "mornings on 2." i'm tori campbell. >> i'm dave clark. it's tuesday, december 28th. rain makes its return to the bay area this week. several communities are p reparing for possible problems. in fact, one crew is working on a pretty serious problem right now. ktvu's jade hernandez is in live in crockette with an update ton the situation on the road there. good good morning, jade. >> reporter: good morning. about a half hour ago we can show you the offramp on the r amp. right now i want to take you to newschopper2. i just spoke with the caltrans resident engineer who told me that the contractor of this project is responsible for f ixing this pothole which is -- which has forced this closure. this offramp has been closed since last night at 7:00. at this point, we don't know how long it will take crews to fix the problem. we can show you that the pothole causing issues is

located around eastbound i-80 on the comings sky offramp. crews are out here working on the 80. the contractor was contacted last night because the hole was so large. we just spoke to the caltrans resident engineer and he told me they were detouring traffic west on kumnings and then north on san pablo and drivers can get back on the freeway from there. now, all of this work is being referred to the main contractor. caltrans will not have crews out here it will be the responsibility of the contractor doing the work this morning. we'll keep you posted on when drivers can expect to see this gone. you can only imagine that crews could love to fix this problem before heavy precipitation s

tarts to fall. we can show you what they are d oing in marin county. ktvu watches mill valley's fire captain identified splits in the ground that could become m udslides later. the city city -- the city's public works department -- >> you might see a slit or a -- up higher. >> a lot of the area is u ndeveloped. when we get a lot of rain, there will be slides. >> reporter: crews in crockette on the -- aren't the only ones dealinwith potholes. in rohnert park crews e xperienced -- drivers dealt

with potholes. pothole issues in that area s lowed down progress and crews were working late last night to try to repair those issues. as i mentioned before, we don't know when crews to start offramp in crockette but keel keep -- but we'll keep you posted on any progress. back to you. >> thank you, jade. 8:03. well, police in oakland are investigating an armed robbery that happened inside a very busy walgreens store. kraig debro is in oakland right now. you've been on this all morning long. what's the very latest, kraig. >> reporter: good morning, dave. i spoke officer within the hour he was able to -- he was not able to give me many more details about the crime on east 18th. but he did say many of the crimes he has taken, the reports seemed to be opportunities. last night, at 8:00 p.m., a man with the gun entered the walgreens just a few yards from the lake merritt bakery. witnesses tell ktvu he walked

into the store in time for the criminal to be pointing a gun at the clerk. the man walked out -- backed out of the store and calmed 911. he left the store on foot but was wearing a mask. it's unclear if the gunman got any money. when i spoke with the manager, he wouldn't give us any details about what happened or comments on any previous crime near. nobody was hurt. even though the gunman had a mask. they are hoping surveillance tape will help them identify the mask. i spoke with -- take a look at this lucky over here. it's right next door to the walgreens. i spoke with members at the overnight crew of the lucky's. they say the store has been victimized more than it's comfortable with him. they say a man came in and spent $300 and waited for the clerk to go into the front office. next to that lucky there is sa satellite police station in this strip mall next to lake merritt bakery and when i spoke to the officer, he said that is not a staffed office so nobody would have been here last

night. kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 n ews. >> thank you, kraig. >> well, we're just getting word that while planes are flying in and out of the major airports of the east coast, flights into jfk airport are delayed at least five hours now because of snow and ice. it's believed it will probably take days for all of the s tranded passengers to get on a flight as planes were already booked solid because of the holidays. some of the airlines, including delta and american are adding extra flights now. u.s. airways reportedly has several hundred booking agents on overtime trying to rebook thousands of very frustrated passengers. i'm gonna be delayed for two hours and there's no snow in dallas. [ laughter ] >> oh, boy. airport officials say it may take three days before everything's back to normal and until then, passengers strongly advise call ahead for any a waiting flights. now, from the carolinas all

the way up to maine, they had -- they can't even add up all of the people trying to dig out after the big holiday blizzard. look at them sleeping in the airports. the storm forced the cancellation of almost 7,000 flights all over the country costing the airlines about $ 1million. the storm has moved on now, but not before it dumped as much as 29 inches of snow in some areas. now, you can stay up to date on the weather and all of the holiday travel conditions by going to our channel 2 website, ktvu.com. it is 8:07. arson investigators in san francisco are looking for suspects after an apartment fire on potrero hill. just hours ago, a christmas tree was set on fire outside the door of one of the apartments on wisconsin and connecticut streets. several residents were trapped inside. neighbors say they help the each other get out. blazing through the whole row. some guy had to drop babies out

the window, the fire department broke the gate off the door. everyone was able to make it out of the apartment safely. so far, no arrests have been made. 8:07. well, today, at&t will announce it is opening what it call as wi-fi hot zone along san francisco's embarcadero. at&t has operated a network of hotspots and hotels and other indoor locations for years. but this one will be the first public outdoor space where wi- fi is available to subscribe. at&t is also expanding the hot zone in new york city's time square. both-- both san francisco and new york are pretty heavy years. the mothball of fleets near the benicia bridge is about to shrink again today. right now the ss bay is scheduled to be moved from suisun bay to b.e.a. systems in san francisco. it will go into try dock and be

cleaned before it's sent to virginia where it will be d ismandelled. two-- dismantled. two more ships will follow. let's go to sal. you are busy and sal, you got the shopper busy, too. >> yeah, the busy -- the busy chopper. the chopper is busy now coming up on the carquinez bridge. we just saw jade there. the onramp is closed. jade was talking about the construct shoe and -- construction and sinkhole. we'll have a live report from here coming up at 8:30 but that ramp from the cumnings skyway will not be open. the weather has certainly played a role. a lot of sinkholes opening up across the bay area. let's move along and take a look at the bay bridge. it's light there coming into san francisco. this morning's commute is not bad on 280 northbound getting up to highway 17. at 8:09, let's go to steve. thank you, sal.

cloudy skies. there's been some light rain. but the heavier rain comes in tonight and it it looks really impressive. until about 2:00, things should be okay. unless you are in the north bay, you can get there sooner. not only do we have a flash flood watch posted. a rather strong system coming i n. cloudy with rain, flood watch, mainly for the north bay, they will probably be urban and small stream advisories. tonight, heavy rain, windy colder and then tomorrow s howers, scattered showers and much colder as temperatures will struggle to get out of the upper 40s and low 50s. santarosa, napa, 51, shore the target forecast. cloudy with light rain in the moving. and then heavier rain in the evening. i think you will set your high by about noon. cloudy, rain develops, windy at times. the system comes through about 6:00 to 10:00. the window in that system comes through and then this will

produce heavy snow up in the sierra nevada. winter storm warning starts there at 4:00. rainfall projections from one our forecast models, nothing really kicks in to about 4:00 and then watch the rain gauge just click over, click over, 2, plus. 3 plus for ben lomond is the projection. even .75 for san jose. 1 for livermore, san francisco 1.25 and almost 2 for napa. you know there will be more than that in the russian river. santarosa, 1.85. probably will be 2 to 3 up towards guerneville, sebastopol. southerly wind kicks in. we have a wind advisory. that starts at 4:00 for the north bay and then at 6:00 for everybody else. one system, a piece went by. but the main part of the system is still developing on the north coast. the wind will crank up. 34 in tahoe right now. some lht flurries, same for truckee. ukiah, 45. heavy rain up towards eureka and crescent city. for tahoe if you have to travel

50 or 80, it would be a good time to get there. and then colder with more snowshowers tomorrow. for us, cloudy light rain but mainly cloudy through about noon. temperatures upper 40s. very low to mid-50s. here comes the rain tonight. also very windy conditions. highs will only be in the mid- 50s at best for best. rain and wind plus colder weather takes us into wednesday off and on showers. they will get -- you'll get a break on friday. 8:12. an act of snooping could land one man in jail. the secret he was after involving his wife. also iraq's prime minister makes it very clear when he w ants american troops out of his country. we'll get a li report from washington, d.c. next. a tragic accident involving several homeless people who were only trying to stay warm in freezing temperatures.

>> reporter: the last american soldier will leave iraq. this agreement is not subject to extension, not subject to alteration. it is sealed. the prime minister says his new government and the country's security forces are capable of confronting any remaining t hreats to iraq's security. and he insists that iraq will not be pulled into alignment with iran. there are 50,000 troops, u.s. troops in iraq now, and the obama administration says they are on track to leave by the end of next year.

the u.s. embassy in iraq will house a security office after that reportedly just comprised of 80 to 90 u.s. military personnel. reporting live from washington, d.c., alison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. all right, alison. thank you. 8:16. well, india is under a nationwide terror alert this morning, all because of a threat of a major attack reportedly planned for the new new year's eve weekend. police have been going from door to door, they are searching for hour men from a pakistan-based militant group believed to be connected to the plot. they have also tightened security around the area because of the 2008 mumbai attack that left 166 people dead. we're also learning that the embassy in london was part of a target in the men that

were involved in that threat last week. the state department confirms that the american embassy was on a list of targets along with the london stock exchange. 8:17. firefighters in new orleans plan to use cadaver dogs to try to find more possible scripts in a tragic warehouse fire. eight homeless people were k illed in the blaze overnight. officials say the victims were burning wood in a barrel inside the abandoned billing -- b uilding trying to stay warm in the freezing temperatures. two people managed to escape the flames you through the window. the victims have yet to be identified. one survivor says they were young people in their teens and 20s out of town. and in florida, five t eenagers died in a motel room from carbon monoxide poisoning. the five boys had rented a hotel room sunday night to celebrate a birthday. the car they drove to the motel had been giving them trouble so they jump-started it and left them running to charge the

battery, in a garage located directly below their room. >> they left the engine run, the garage door closed, the room probably got filled with carbon monoxide poisoning. a maid discovered the five boys debt in their room on monday afternoon. authorities say there was no alcohol, illegal drugs or other suspicious items inside that motel room. 8:18. a man from michigan could get up to five years in prison for breaking into his wife's e-mail account only to find out she was having an affair. 3-year-old leen walker has been charged with a nellny -- felony under a law in michigan that b ans lacking -- hack into a commuter system. mr.walker claims he's innocent. he said he shared the computer with his wife. his wife says that commuter was hers alone and that she kept the password a secret. well, it appears governor schwarzenegger will not see the sale of two dozen state office buildings before he leaves office. the state appeals court has put a hold on the plan to sell

those buildings and says it won't take up the issue again until next month after the new governor, governor-elect jerry brown, is sworn in. under the proposal, the state would sell 24 government office buildings for more than a billion dollars to help close the state's budget gap. it would then lease back the properties. it is 8:19. a warning for craigslist users with -- what oakland police are saying about a g rowing scam involving certain ads. and the unthinkable crime against a 102-year-old grandmother that almost cost her her life.

i wanted to show you this cool picture from newschopper2 of the ss bay which will be moved from an area north of the benicia bridge to dry dock in san francisco. and then it will be sent to virginia where it will be dismantled. the problem is this ship is very rusty and it is polluting the water near the benicia bridge. so they are slowly getting rid of the ships. i know they are kind of cool to have there. but it's not good for the environment so slowly but surely a lot of these ships are being moved away.

cleaned, dismantled. these are live pictures from newschopper2. 8:23. well, the holiday weekend ended tragically for a sonoma county family when a windsor man died in a snowboarding accident. according to the "the press democrat" the 20-year-old was snowboarding on canada's westler mountain when he went missing. it's believed he fell in some snow and fell into a deep creek and possibly could have drowned. officials say he was wearing a helmet. his body was recovered saturday. police near sacramento are looking for the person who threw a firebomb into the window of a home ownedded -- owned by a 102-year-old woman. >> that's why -- why they picked this house, i don't know. >> georgia trantum was sound asleep when it happened. a neighbor woke up her. the fire was put out a a garden

hose. the woman has lived peacefully in hour home for more than 75 years. police are sill stoiching for suspects. glad she's okay. 8:24. let's go right back to sam. see what's happening in the commute. sal? >> we do have some bridges to talk about. let's go there and take a look at the bridge -- the bay bridge is very light coming into san francisco. sanmateo bridge, golden gate bridge and the richmond bridge looking good. remember yesterday it was so foggy we could barely see any of these. how far, driving this afternoon or evening, probably not gonna be that great. let's go to steve. it will be, sal. rain is beginning to get closer. we had one band go through. temperatures upper 40s and low 50s. most of the advisories or

watches kick in late in the afternoon a or evening. right now we're sitting at the 40s and 50s under cloudy skies. rain develops along with very windy conditions it's a pretty strong front that moves in. by about 6:00 to 10: 10: 10:00 tonight it will be moving through and giving us moderate to heavy rain about with a lot of snow in the mountains. winter storm warning starts at 4:00. then 6:00 for everyone else. we also have a flash flood watch out for the north bay that s tarts tonight. in the last few frames watch along the snow may coast, up towards mendocino county and lake county, we're starting to see an enhancement. the main system is coming in later. light snow right now, just flurries up in the sierra nevada but heavy snow along with the wind and plunging temperatures on wednesday. sloughdy, breezy, heavy rain. there will be light rain in advance of it. temperatures stay in the 50s today. low 50s north. plain some mid-50s to the south, basically due to a south-

southeast wind for the santa clara valley. rain tonight, heavy at times. colder with showers off and on and it looks like a break on friday. 8:26. another round of storms, you heard steve, it's gonna hit the bay area today. what local communities are doing right now to get ready.

welcome back. steve's been warning i. take an umbrella with you. crews in crockette will try to fix a big pothole before the storm gets here. that's where ktvu's jade hernandez is standing by live. she has all of the details. what's happening now? good morning, jade. >> reporter: good morning. let me explain to you why this was an emergency offramp c losure. an additional lane is being a dded here to i-0. but a huge -- here to i-80. this offramp has been closed for more than 12 hours. newschopper2 gives us aerials of the area this morning. at this point, we don't know how long it will take crews to fix the problem but according to the caltrans resident engineer i spoke to this morning, the contractor is responsible for fixing the hole. the contractor was contacted last night and the closure will remain in place until further notice. for now drivers can detour

around the problem west on comings, north on san pablo where they will be directed back on the freeway. we can show you what they are d oing in marin county as many cities around the bay brace for wet weather and what that means for their area. in rohnert park drivers experienced slow traffic due to pothole repairs last night. caltrains is working on a project and the potholes issues slowed down progress there and mill valley's fire captain identified for us their concern in marin county. mudslides. he showed us slits in the ground which could become areas that could slide there. the city's public works department also tried to identify problem spots. back out here in crockette,

caltrans doesn't know when the contractor will have crews out here to fix the pothole issues. but, of course, we'll keep you posted on any progress. reporting live, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. all right. you, jade. 8:31. right now all lanes are back open on 880 between a crash and armored truck and big rig. the accident happened about an hour ago on "a" street. money from the armored truck had to be transperred to another truck. sanfrancisco police want your help in finding a hit-and-run driver who left a bicyclist in critical condition. the accident happened early christmas morning when the driver turned from tag street on to bartlett street in the city's mission district. after the collision, police say the driver quickly fled the scene and left behind the i njured bicyclist. the car is only described as a gray, gold or tan sedan.

8:32. one of the pipes that spilled raw sewage in marin county has been replaced now. but there are critics wondering how long the repair will loss. the ross valley sanitary district replaced that pipe with a smaller pipe. now, a man that resigned told -- resigned said they think it's a mrs. take for the district that is -- mistake for the district to install another pipe that's more narrow. santa clara county's vert fire chief will retire at the end of the month but he's not -- veteran fire chief will retire at the end of the month but he's not leaving right away. he will be back on on the job e arning $236,000 as a c onsultant. that's on ton of his $200,,000 yearly state pension. county officials stay the move gives them time but critics are calling this a classic case of dip double dipping at a time when local governments are f

acing a fiscal crisis. 8:33. crime is dropping on one of the state's most dangerous cities. richmond police tell the -- told the contra costa times several new programs are helping. this year the department is at full staffing. detectives are also working to closely track parolees and gang and narcotics intelligence teams have been restored from earlier budget cuts. police say they are also e nforcing a daytime curfew for minors and the district a ttorney's office has a prosecutor that specifically handles low-level gun crimes to identify potential shooters before they act. but officers on the beat credit patrol-based community policing plans that began in 2006. at&t is expanding its free wireless internet service to more public areas. one of those areas is right here in the bay area. tara moriarty is live in san francisco to tell us where the new wi-fi hot zones are.

can you hear 450 now? >> reporter: yes, we can hear you. well, this is the thing about wi-fi access, you can get it for free at hotels, airports, cafes but this is one of the first times they've offered it in a huge outdoor space, imagine b eing able to tap into that. that's what at&t is doing right here along the embarcadero. that's where we are right now. we want to show you a picture of something that we found on the internet. this is an outdoor wi-fi access point in minneapolis. this is similar to the device that you could see here soon along the embarcadero that would provide service from the ballpark down to fishermen's wharf. at&t says it's adding this new coverage area here in response to a pilot program that s ucceeded in new york at times square. now we don't know when the change will take effect but we asked some people headed to work around the -- about the new zone and they are were -- and they were eager to check it out. >> you don't need to have the

actual iphone and you would be able to get online and check, you know, your e-mail or play games for free or whatever. i think that's pretty awesome. >> you hear a lot of people complaining about at&t in general. >> i do. i do especially with the iphone since they took on that phone. i think that it's definitely put a lot more people in a lot -- and a lot more stress on their network. anything that they can do to improve it is okay with me. at&t is the exclusive carrier for the iphone. the company has met a lot of criticism over the quality of its service in places like new york and here in san francisco. so a lot of customers are really anxious for it to start. the very first city to offer wi- fi office in the bay area. sunnyvale in the year 2005. we'rer here live in san francisco, tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. our time is now, 8:36. we have breaking news. this is come out of maine.

we're just hearing there has been a ski lift accident at sugar loaf lift. it seems the lift has derailed. we don't know the extent of the injuries but we do know people are being evacuated as we speak. but this is at the sugar loaf ski resort in main. one-- maine. one of the ski lifts has d erailed. people have been hurt. we'll get you more details and and update as soon as we get the information. oakland police have a warning for craig list users about a rash of armed robberies c onnected to car ads. police say -- say -- police say the ads usually offer amazing deals and the victims are robbed usually in oakland or east oakland. the victims are from all over northern california. the latest incident happened sunday night when a man from lodi responded to a posting. police say he was robbed of thousands of dollars and s everely beaten. >> a bay area area say b

emblywoman -- a bay area's assemblywoman's bill is on hold. she's pulling the bill until she can speak with police, local politicians and people in the entertainment industry. last week rave fans and deejays said they were offering opposition to the bill. she introduced the bill after two ravegoers died at earlier this year at the cow palace. >> sal's back. let's see what's happening in our commute. it's been nice and quiet for the most part. now that we've been watching everything to make sure that these minor accidents have b een -- that we've had have not affected the commute. the road sensors are doing very well in the livermore area. as a matter of fact, the traffic continues to look good from livermore all the way out to castro valley. no major problems there if you are driving over to castro valley. moving along to the nimitz freeway. a little bit of slow traffic in hayward, no major problems s nare -- no major problems t

here. obviously it has been a very nice drive. no major problems driving up to the city. and one last thing, this is 101, i think -- i put the wrong super up there. southbound 101 through the marin county civic center there. that traffic moves well. let's go to steve. cloudy skies, temperatures upper 40s, low 50s and some rain is beginning to develop towards the north bay. but the bulk of the system whether be tonight late this afternoon and then moderate to heavy rain looks to be very likely along with the wind advisory starting to pick up later on as well and our forecast glance here does have a cloudy day with rain moving in. flash flood watch starts at 4:00 in the north bay. heavy rain tonight, windy c older, it will carry showers and 40s to right at 50. 50 oakland, also san francisco,

san jose our target forecast going for 40s and then 50, 50s but again, they will probably be the last ones to see the rain for a while because temperatures there, i think -- i think my computer is stuck a gain. i think it is. there is -- there it goes -- cloudy, yes, i will start d ancing very soon. rain develops windy at times. heavy rain tonight in fact some of the projections are 1 to 3 inches along with the snow up there with the mountains. the rainfall projection forecast model. not much to about noon. then watch how the rain totals here. these are project the rain totals. santarosa almost 2 inches of rain. ben lomond 3. 1.25. sanfrancisco, oakland, moderate to leaf rain coming in. would not be surprised to see urban and small stream a dvisories issued. wind advisory 4:00 for the north bay and then 6:00 for everybody else.

gs are possible. here we go from just cloudy skies. the main part of the system is still well to the north. so by this afternoon. rain will be moving into the north bay. and then by tonight, late tonight 6::00, 7:00, we start to see the system punch through and it will produce moderate to heavy rain taking us into tomorrow morning and then the winter storm warning starts up there at 4:00 today and then showers off and on along with colder conditions will take us into the thursday -- will take us into thursday. heavy snow tonight and tomorrow for the sierra turning colder. winter storm warning turning out well. light snow. 40s to start off with, cloudy with light rain. we'll see cloudy with rain developing by noon. but mainly cloudy with the rain in the north bay and then for everybody by this evening with 50s on the temperatures. low 50s for tomorrow. mid-50s for others and the five- day i expect a rather strong system tonight into wednesday morning and then off and

onshowers turn -- turning much colder. we will get a break on friday. that badly wounded sea lion known as silent night will not be released out into the wild. an examination by veterinarians at the ma rhine mammal center confirmed the sea lion is blind in both eyes after being shot by a shot gun. we first told you about silent night earlier this month. when it was found on the sausalito beach. a spokesperson for the center says the next step is to try to find a good home for silent night in either a zoo or aquarium. it's 8:42. home prices continue to fall. where san francisco stands. and the 49ers hope someone from their past will help their future.

8:45. let's bring you up to date on some of the top stories. sanfrancisco arson i nvestigators are searching for suspects after an early-morning apartment building fire on potrero hill. a christmas tree was set on fire outside the door of one of the apartments on wisconsin and

connecticut streets. luckily, no one was hurt. oakland police hope surveillance video will help them catch the gunman who helped rob a very busy walgreens store. this happened at 8:00 not far from lake merritt. and the nation's airlines trying to accommodate thousands of stranded passengers affected by the east coast blizzard. it's expected to take a couple of days to get flights back to normal. though, there are five-hour delays this thorning -- this morning at jfk airport it new york right now because of snow and ice. the airlines are adding flights and bridging in hundreds of b ooking agents who are working overtime. it 8:46. new numbers from the housing industry show that home prices are dropping in the nation's largest cities are expected to continue to fall flew next year. claudine wong has more on t oday's report and how the bay area is affected. good morning, claudine. >> reporter: good morning, tori. these new housing numbers came

out this morning. the company that put the number out, there's no good news. this report is considered the leading measure from u.s. home prices. it looked addai tau from september to october of this year and the bottom line is home prices are continuing -- are continuing to fall. well, tax aches -- tax i ncentives are over. if you look at the m onth-to- month numbers on new home and existing home sales, none of it is making anyone really optimistic. if you look year to year, sales are down more than 25% and we have a bunch of unsold homes, about 50% more than -- 50% more this year than last year. so that's why some of this is happening. now let's take a look at some of the more specific numbers. all cities in the 20-city home price index, atlanta was the largest with a 2.9 drop from the month earlier. that followed by detroit at 2.5. chicago at 2%.

sanfrancisco, however, not far behind with -- san francisco and minneapolis dropping 1.9%. unfortunately, this appears to be just part of what's to come as 2010 wraps up with what is expected to be the worst year in a decade for home sales. analysts are also predicting home prices will continue to fall through next year. not a lot of good news this morning. reporting live from the n ewsroom, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. thank you. our time is now 8:47. we have an update to that breaking news we told but a couple of minutes ago, a ski lift accident that just happened at a resort in maine. officials at sugar loaf mountain resort say a gust of wind re-- derailed a ski lift cable from a pulley and five lift chairs fell on to the ground. at least three people are hurt. about 100 other skiers are now stranded about 30 to 40 feet off the ground. they are trying to be -- to get them evacuated as we speak. officials say it's gonna take

at least an hour to get everybody back on the ground. the temperature by the way out there is 8%. they've got bend gusts of 20 to 30 miles an hour. we'll get you more details on this ski lift accident in maine as the information comes in. new numbers rereesed show an unexpected dip in consumer confidence this month due to concern about jobs. the index is at 52.5 right now. that's dune -- that's down 2 points from november. generally leadings from 90 point ors above indicate a growing economy. the financial company that receivedby the biggest government bailout is taking a big step on the road to recover i -- recovery. aig now has lined up $3 billion in credit from 6 separate l enders. it cannot use any of the money until it's paid back the 128 billion in federal bailout money. but it needed to prove it could raise money on its own before

the government would let it start making -- making payments. it's official, the retailers say this was a very good christmas for them. maybe the best other ever. so far there are more people still buying merchandise than returning gifts. that could push holiday revenue to an all-time for -- all-time high for the retailers. even though most shoppers say they are more careful about the spending. the biggest seller, clothing with jeans and accessories clothing sales are up about 11% from last year. amazon.com has pattened a way to exchange unwanted gifts before they even get to your house. now the system isn't working in time for this holiday but amazon says the when it's up and r unning you can flag a box on your profile that will let you convert all gifts from certain people into gift certificates. you will be notified of the original gifts so you can say thank you for the gift while at the same time enjoying picking out something that you really want for yourself.

ten minutes before 9:00. the president of the 49ers says he decided to fire head coach mike singletary with one game left in the season so the team can focus on next year. jed york has started the process of hiring a general manager. york says the general manager will hire the team's next head coach. but there's still no timetable for a decision. and york's uncle, the former 49erers owner, will serve as a consultant in the process of hiring a gm. very interesting. >> yeah. 8:51. well, it's the first time this has happened this winter, we'll tell you where the department of water resources will take a snow survey today. and an activity going on in the bay area this morning. find out why this annual event is literally for the birds.

we continue to follow breaking news from maine. officials have rescued five s kiers from sugar loaf mountain resort. they are among about 100 people stranded 30 feet to 40 feet off the ground, a gust of wind d erailed a lift cable and sent five ski lift rails to the ground. at least three people were hurt. officials say it will take an hour to get everybody down. temperature, 8 degrees with wind gusts of 20 to 30 miles an hour. well, back here at home, right now in benicia, another former military ship is being taken out of the mothball fleet in suisun bay. it's the ss bay. it's being moved to san

francisco for dry docking and they are gonna remove loose, sper year -- exterior paint. clopper 2 flew over it. then it will be sent to v irginia. that's where it will be dismantled. two more ships will follow its next -- follow it next month as the federal government starting cleans up all of the decaying ships that are polluting suisun bay. the ss bay is the 14th ship to be removed from the fleet since october 2009. 8:55. a lot of people are looking for birds in the bay area right now. it's part of the golden gate audubon society's bird count for the northern part of the peninsula. this is knew video from the group which started at 6:30 this morning, looking for all types of birds. last year they recorded 159 separate species. we talked to one bird count ira little while ago to find out why they do it. >> it gives as good perspective on the bird populations.

so some years -- some years there are a lot of species across north america. sometimes there's none. >> this society is one of 2150 groups taking a bird census today. an area near lake tahoe will be the site of the winter's first survey today. this is the first of the series that will cool cau light how much snowmelt will likely run off into california's reservoirs in the spring. the department already estimates it will be able to deliver at least half of requested water in 2011. well, this morning, the library of congress announced the 25 movies direct -- select the for the national film registry this year. they include the empire strikes back. "saturday night fever" the exorcist "and" all of the president's men." this is designed to produce films with historical or cultural signature. this is ticket 2s day.

you can win tickets to the e xtran gan za that runs from january 6th to the 9th. to enter go to ktvu.com. do it before midnight tonight. scroll down to the "right now" tab and put in the secret word "motor" and good luck. it's always fun to see the cars and get a little glimpse of the future. >> that's right. speaking of cars on the r oad,less check in with mr. sal castanedo. >> good morning. good morning, dave. we're looking at a commute that's been pretty good. we've had minor things out t here. but general tone of today's driver around -- drive around the bay area looks good. you can see 880, no slowdown as we normally have. metering lights have not been turned on. in san francisco, if you are driving to your job in downtown. northbound 101 looks good. let's go to receive sa. cloudy skies, but everything starts to pick up -- well, already in the north bay but it will really start to pick up later on. that's when we have a wind advisory and a flash flood

watch out for this evening. >> moderate to very heavy rain is likely tonight into early wednesday and then turning colder. off and on showers will take us into thursday. we do get a break on friday. there's no consensus on the weekend. one forecast says dry, the other says rain, they are all over the maps. let's just deal with tonight. >> you did want everybody to pay attention to today. >> yeah, hunker down. get yesterdayry -- get ready. it will be 1 to 3 inches of r ain. >> all right. we're prepared. see you tomorrow. >> bye now.